Douglas Burns is a fourth-generation Iowa journalist. He is the co-founder of the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation and a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, where this article first appeared on The Iowa Mercury newsletter. His family operated the Carroll Times Herald for 93 years in Carroll, Iowa where Burns resides.
Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh, a Republican, joined others in his party and independents to support Democratic State Representative Josh Turek, a gold medal-winning Paralympian in wheelchair basketball, at a September 26 event in this southwest Iowa city. Former U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa icon, headlined the fundraiser for Turek, who captured his state House district by just six votes in 2022 and faces a challenging re-election bid in the November election.
Walsh said he crossed party lines for the event—and a public endorsement of a Democrat—for one reason: Turek is a respected and effective voice at the statehouse.
“While I am a registered Republican, I strongly believe the best candidate should win,” Walsh said in an interview at the Hoff Family Arts and Cultural Center. “Without a doubt in my mind that’s Josh Turek. He cares about Iowa, he cares about people with disabilities, and he cares about Council Bluffs. You can talk to Josh. Josh listens. Josh understands. Josh is responsive. He’s everything you look for in a candidate. Josh is that guy.”
“His potential upside is great,” Walsh said.
Walsh said Turek remains rooted in his working-class Council Bluffs origins.
“He pulls people with him,” Walsh said. “I just am proud to call him a friend, and prouder yet to call him a representative of the city of Council Bluffs.”
About 250 people attended the fundraiser and rally for Turek at the Hoff Center. Republican James Wassell is challenging Turek in Iowa House District 20.
Turek, a Council Bluffs native, was born with Spina Bifida and had 21 surgeries before the age of 12. He became interested in adaptive sports during his school days in Council Bluffs, and went on to play in three Paralympics games and then professional wheelchair basketball in Europe.
“Think of the grit and determination and the absolute refusal to give up that it takes to become one of the five best wheelchair basketball players in the world,” said Jen Pellant, a vice chair of the Pottawattamie County Democratic Party and the president of the Western Iowa Labor Federation. “Then understand and realize that that’s the kind of effort that he puts into being our state representative every single day. It’s extraordinary.”
Jen Pellant, president of the Western Iowa Labor Federation, delivered a forceful endorsement of Turek at a September 26 campaign event in Council Bluffs
In a real way, Pellant said, Turek is a representative for all disabled people of Iowa.
“He is the first legislator in the history of that body who shares the lived experience of the almost 15 percent of Iowans who are disabled,” Pellant said. “He has to remain there. He has to go back. He’s working on issues a lot of his colleagues wouldn’t even know were problems if he weren’t there.”
What’s more, Pellant said, Turek is an effective ally for working families, unions, and public schools.
Harkin, who repesented Iowa for 40 years in the U.S. House and Senate, said Turek’s work ethic and success as a legislator are inspiring.
“To see Josh not only win elections, but to become such a great, powerful, state legislator, just in a short period of time, sends a lot of signals out there, signals not just to people with disabilities,” Harkin said. “He is not a disability legislator. He is a legislator with a disability who understands that when you break down barriers and you open doors you do it for everybody.”
Harkin said Turek has the credentials to have stayed in the professional basketball ranks in Europe.
“Why did he come back here?” Harkin said. “This is where he is from. These are his roots. I know Josh Turek cares more about doing good for his country and doing good for the people here, and the people he grew up with in this area, than he did about making a lot of money or being famous.”
Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights said some of Turek’s ideas have emerged in legislation without his name on it, notably work that allows people with disabilities to more quickly get repairs for mobility devices.
“You need to recognize that the work he’s done there is not about credit, it’s about helping to change lives,” Konfrst said. “That’s why we’re so grateful for Josh.”
State Representative Sami Scheetz talks with former Senator Tom Harkin at the event
Other legislators agreed.
State Representative Sami Scheetz of Cedar Rapids said Turek’s inspiring quality has a statewide reach.
“You all in Council Bluffs have the opportunity this year to re-elect one of the greatest representatives that we have in the state of Iowa,” Scheetz said.
For his part, Turek has prioritized advocacy for the middle class, he said.
“We need more individuals who are fighting for quality, affordable health care,” he said. “No one in this state should have to make the decision about whether to take their medication or take their insulin or keep the lights on.”
Turek said he also understands the broader mission of his representation.
“I am the first permanently disabled member,” Turek said. “One in five Iowans have a disability, at bare minimum 15 percent. I cannot tell you the joy and pride it has given me. We are now having disabled kids seeing me on field trips to the statehouse and they are saying, ‘Wow, I can do anything, I don’t have a glass ceiling on my life.’”